Silence Speaks (Book Two to Silence Series)

Thirty-Six

I sauntered into the compound, holding an ice pack to my swelling face. "Woah what happened to you?" Tony asked and I nodded my head in Bucky's direction. "Ask Tweedle Dee over there." Bucky glared at me and I removed the ice pack. "I have my reasons for keeping it from you Barnes. I didn't do it because I'm an asshole." He grumbled under his breath, "Right." I sighed and tossed the ice pack on the counter. "I thought you weren't going to come in today." Steve changed the subject. "Yeah well." I grabbed the bag off my shoulder and pulled out four passports. "I actually have to meet with the King about something and Shuri has been number one on my list of people to meet. So pack your bags boys, we have a flight leaving for Africa in four hours."

"I'm gonna miss you." I grabbed Loki's face and pressed my lips to his, more needy than I should've done. "I'll miss you too. I'll call as much as I can." He kissed me again and I pulled away to see Cooper. "Why are you leaving Dad?" I smiled and lifted him into my arms. "Because Uncle Bucky needs help and I've got to be there for him. But don't worry, I'll be home before you know it." I promised and kissed him on the forehead. "You better be because I will not raise Lila on my own." Loki half-joked and I smiled. "She's not due till July babe, I'll likely be gone until Christmas and then back here again." I pulled Loki into our hug and I held my two men close to me. "Bye my loves, I'll see you soon." I waved to them as we walked onto SHIELD'S private jet. Normally we would've taken the Quinjet, but all our Quinjet's are out of commission at the moment.

"Why would you stay with us?" I looked up from my laptop, where I was designing a new part of the car. "Just because I'm your boss, doesn't mean I don't care about you. You deserve to have some people there to support you, no matter what's going on. I'm also sorry for not being able to tell you about this sooner." I looked back and tilted my head. "For fucks sake." I closed my laptop and tossed it on the chair opposite me. "Something wrong?" I shook my head and played with my wedding ring. "Trying to make a car that can work like a normal car but also being able to work against and with air currents and gravity is a real pain in the ass. I don't think I'm as smart as I wish I was." I shrugged and leaned back in the chair, staring at the tiles of the planes paneling. "I think you're plenty smart but maybe you need fresh eyes looking at this." Steve suggested and I sighed. "I'll see if Shuri can take a look at it."

Our plane touched down at a SHIELD base just outside the Wakandian line. We stepped off the plane and I shook hands with the head agent running the base. "You're just needing one Quinjet yes?" The man drawled in a thick english accent. "Yes sir." He handed me keys and I smiled. "Come on boys, it's another hour before we get to the kingdom." I walked us to the Quinjet and they climbed in. "You know how to fly this thing?" Sam questioned with a slight twinge of worry in this voice. "Couldn't become a field agent without it." I hopped in the pilot's seat and Bucky sat in the other seat. "I'm sorry for punching you." I chuckled and shook my head. "I deserved it." I closed the doors and hit a couple of buttons. "Gentlemen, this is your pilot speaking. You best sit your ass' down." Sam laughed and I heard belts buckling. "And here we go." I drove us till we got to an ample speed and I pulled up on the wheel, taking off with a jerk. "Answer me this kid. Why do you do what you do?" I looked slightly at Bucky and he rubbed the star on his metal arm. "Not even last week, you arrested your adoptive dad. You're adopting his kids. You're one of the best agents SHIELD has seen since Tasha and maybe Steve and you take care of us." I sighed and bit my lip. "Having a purpose is the reason I'm alive Buck. At first it was just Loki, I was alive for him. Then everything else came into play and its evolved into this sense of purpose that I've never felt before. Sure my PTSD is bad and I don't have one ounce of self esteem, but I've got something to do and people to love. You take that away and I'm just a really traumatized kid with bad depression and infinite means of dying."

"Why are we going down?" Sam called and I smirked. "Just watch." I pulled us down through the barrier and the city came into view. "Holy shit." Bucky whispered and I grinned, flying over the warriors. "This boys, is Wakanda." We hit the pavement that led up to the kingdom and came to a slow stop. I grabbed the keys and my bag before I led them off the plane. "Mr. Odinson." T'challa greeted when I stepped off and I smiled. "Your highness." He grimaced and I chuckled. "T'challa is fine." He held out his hand and I shook it. "Peter then. You remember these three right?" He nodded and they all shook hands. "Let me take you up to my sister." He started to walk and I followed behind, my eyes trained on the beautiful city. "Okoye, these are our guests." I looked back to the king and a bald women with a spear eyed me up and down. "This is a child." She responded and I rose an amused eyebrow. "Knock it off." I chuckled and we walked up to a lab. "Brother what did I say about knocking?" A female with an accent asked, her mind seeming elsewhere. "Woah, Shuri you never told your lab was this big." I commented, looking around in awe. "White Boy?" She rounded a corner and crashed into my body, her arms going around my neck. "Hey Princess." She laughed and let me go, her eyes bright. "You didn't tell me you were coming!" I smiled and looked back to T'challa. "I came for business, but I'm staying for longer. I was wondering if you could help us with a few things?" She nodded happily and I reached for Bucky.

"This is Bucky Barnes. You know him as the Winter Soldier." Her eyes steeled over and she eyed him cautiously. "We were wondering if you could undo his brainwashing and give him a new arm?" Shuri's gaze slid to me and then back to Bucky. "I can try." I thanked her and she grabbed Bucky's hand, leading him to another part of her lab. "I'll be back later." I called and she gave me a thumbs up. "Come on you two." I led Sam and Steve out with T'challa. "These will be your rooms." He showed us three rooms and while the other two went into theirs, I stayed outside of mine. T'challa and I walked back to Shuri's lab. "What are you doing in conjunction with those three?" I played with my wedding ring, a ping of longing going through my gut. "They're my team." I responded and we walked into the lab. "I'm not the same kid you fought with in Berlin, that was two years ago." T'challa rose an eyebrow and I started to set up, with Shuri's permission of course. "I'll explain, first let me get set up."